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<title>if we wait, it may be too late by the_algaybra (hellisntthatbad)</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28595850">if we wait, it may be too late</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellisntthatbad/pseuds/the_algaybra'>the_algaybra (hellisntthatbad)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Hurt/Comfort, I hurt myself with this, no beta we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:08:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,108</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28595850</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellisntthatbad/pseuds/the_algaybra</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>George gets out of an abusive relationship and needs his time to heal. Dream and Sapnap help him realise that love isn't a bad thing.</p><p>The relationship part is short and the main focus of this fic is healing i guess?? I hope you like it, even if it's not really ship-y and stuff</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clay | Dream &amp; GeorgeNotFound &amp; Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>101</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>if we wait, it may be too late</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25880473">The Last Bottle in a Desert</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/JSparks/pseuds/JSparks">JSparks</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>i wrote this in a whim after i read The Last Bottle in a Desert and finally posted after like a few weeks of ignoring the draft. oops.</p><p>anyways i hope you enjoy this, it was something else to write because i challenged myself to write no dialogue. like at all. no "wow". and i stood up to my challenge! :)</p><p>also, since this is about online personas of real life people, please do not harrass them about this stuff! the dream team may be comfortable with fanfics about them, but please dont bring it up unnecessarily. please stay polite, even if you're on the internet!</p><p> </p><p>title is from 'Weighted' by frnkiero andthe cellabration</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He has 2 hours. Maybe more. Maybe less. George isn’t willing to take a risk. He tries to pack everything up as fast as he can. He calls Wilbur to pick him up. Wilbur comes without asking too much.</p><p>Right in this moment, he’s just happy that his (now) ex took it a step too far. It opened his eyes to what was happening. He still can’t name what exactly happened, but it happened over time and his ex surely felt safe enough in their position that they made a mistake. Maybe George was already suspecting something, maybe the thought of calling the police was in his head longer than he knew. Maybe.</p><p>Wilbur has arrived by now, a huge empty backpack, three moving boxes in his hands and someone else trailing behind him. It’s the person with the car, a friend, Wilbur says. George believes him. He doesn’t know who else to believe right now. They pack all his things up.</p><p>In the end, he doesn’t have much anymore. Had to sell it to afford rent for both his ex and him. He hadn’t known how much was actually on his bank account.</p><p>He steals all the credit cards and cuts those who belong to his ex in half. His own he pockets, as well as the secret stash of coins he accumulated in hope to surprise his ex with a bigger present. Well, he doesn’t need to buy that present now.</p><p> </p><p>The first night he sleeps on Wilburs couch, all his belongings still in the car, his phone turned off and his pizza only half eaten.</p><p>After that, he rents an Airbnb and starts looking for a new place. Far away from the previous one. He calls his bank to remove his ex’ access for his bank accounts. On that note, he also asks them for a new card and his overall account balance. He calls his ex’s bank to send his own account the money he’s earned in the last few months.</p><p>He tweets about it too. Just that he’s taking a break for personal reasons. That he’s well, but something important came up.</p><p>Later, when he’s laying in a rented bed, alone, but safe, he tells his friends about it. Tells them that he got out of a toxic relationship and won’t be online as much because he’s moving. He tells them that he will be seeing a counselor.</p><p>He’s lying.</p><p>He doesn’t see a counselor. He doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to burden them with something as pathetic as his love life, there are people with more pressing issues, he will get over it, he will be able to do it alone, he’s strong after all, isn’t he?</p><p>When his friends ask, he tells them he’s getting better. Just not up to playing and talking yet.</p><p>He’s lying.</p><p>He’s holing himself up in his new apartment, bags and boxes barely unpacked, nothing in the fridge, some take-out boxes on the table, all alone with his intrusive thoughts and himself. He keeps his thoughts to himself. His friends don’t need to know that he’s weak and losing to his own mind. He either sleeps a lot or not at all. He, on one hand, doesn’t deserve sleep, but on the other, he doesn’t deserve being awake either.</p><p>Sometimes, he can get up to play with Sapnap and Dream, only them, not the Dream SMP, their own little server, without pressure. Without tens out thousands of people watching them. He uses the excuse of still having to unpack and sort stuff out and keeping it low for the first few weeks to not play more or with others. They go easy on him and keep teasing and nagging and fighting to a minimum. Instead, they try to convince him to come to America for a month to get out of London. To get even farther away.</p><p>They make sure to tell him that they love him and that he isn’t unloved or alone in this. It does more damage to George than it helps. It pushes him to a breaking point.</p><p>It happens after they finished a recording, the first one in weeks, when Dream hits him with a swarm of ‘I love you’s. George has to, he can’t take it anymore, he screams and he breaks inside and yells that they should stop, that he won’t fall for it again, they can leave it be, just stop. When he’s finished, there’s silence. He leaves the call.</p><p>Dream and Sapnap send him dozens of texts and try to call him oh so often but he ignores it, tries to forget it and forget about them.</p><p>Three days later, he’s doing a stream, alone, just some speedrunning, to show his fans that he’s still alive (and maybe to show himself that he’s feeling better, he even ate a yoghurt when he woke up). He said it upfront that he won’t talk about why he’s been absent and the mods are doing a relatively good job at banning people who are spamming that they want an explanation. Overall, it feels good to stream again.</p><p>He’s just mining a tree when he gets a donation from Dream, it’s $200 and it’s saying that he should pick up his phone, dumbass. </p><p>He ignores it.</p><p>Two minutes later there’s another $200, this time the text says that Dream sent him something.</p><p>Another few minutes later, $100 from Sapnap say that if George doesn’t pick up his phone and answers Dream, he will gift a hundred subs.</p><p>George opens his phone and gets to his and Dream’s chat.</p><p>It’s a plane ticket.</p><p>To Florida.</p><p>Sapnap also just sent him an image. It’s a plane ticket from Texas to Florida.</p><p>George stares at his phone and only sees the next donation when the Text-to-Speech program reads it out. It’s another $200 from Dream. We gonna meet up and hug, whether you want or not.</p><p>George is close to crying. It is too much. He doesn’t know what to think.</p><p>He ends the stream rather quick after that, saying that his pizza just arrived and that he won’t be eating it on stream. It is a lie. He hasn’t ordered pizza. He isn’t even hungry.</p><p>He does end up taking the flight though.</p><p>He doesn’t know exactly why. He would argue that it would be a waste of money if he wouldn’t take an already paid for plane ticket. He would argue that it takes him away from England. He wouldn’t argue that he has been missing his friends.</p><p>When he arrives in Florida, Dream and Sapnap are already waiting for him at baggage claim. They don’t hug. It’s rather awkward. George doesn’t know what to do with himself. Dream and Sapnap talk all the time, joke, punch each other, share stories. George just sits there and laughs when it seems appropriate. They drive to Dreams house and order some dinner and just sit on the couch and watch TV. It’s nothing much. George falls asleep halfway through the movie.</p><p>It’s not a good sleep.</p><p> </p><p>It’s rather fitful.</p><p>He’s dreaming that his ex is back, that they found out where he lives now and threaten him to come back. They say that they love him and if George loves them too, he should prove it. Sex is an act of love, isn’t it?</p><p>Dream wakes him up. He looks so worried. George feels so bad. He says that he’s sorry for falling asleep, for causing inconveniences, he’s sorry that he ruined their evening, Sapnap passes hima hot cocoa and a tissue box. George didn’t notice he was crying until then. He dries his face and blows his nose and tries to calm down. Sapnap leaves and brings two more hot cocoas for him and Dream. They sit next to George but keep their distance at the same time. Of course. Why would they want to touch him. He’s caused nothing but trouble for them. He opens his mouth but doesn’t know what to say. He opens and closes it like a fish until Sapnap asks him if he wants some more hot cocoa. He nods.</p><p>When Sapnap is back, he apologizes for causing inconveniences again. He offers to pack his things and go back to London so they can actually enjoy their time. They protest vehemently. They want him here, they say, he’s part of their team, they say. George wants to believe them. He nods a few times, throws in an ok or two in, thanks them a few times. They get ready for bed when their cups are empty and their eyes are drooping. They all have brushed their teeth and changed into their pyjamas when Dream asks who wants to take the bed. He’d be fine with the couch. George protests that he wouldn’t steal Dream’s own bed and that he’d be fine with the couch.</p><p>Sapnap stands in the door and watches George.</p><p>Their friend has been avoiding touching them all day. Sapnap asks George if he can hug him. George flinches a bit. Then he nods and thanks him for asking beforehand. Sapnap encloses him with his arms but doesn’t press him, just holds, until George’s body unclenches and he wraps his arms around Sap. It’s a good hug. It’s the first hug in a long time that George feels safe in. That doesn’t feel forced. Dream asks if he can join. George nods against Sapnap’s chest and Dream comes in and hugs him from behind. George should feel caged, his body should scream, his mind should reel if this would happen with someone else, but here, with his two best friends, he feels safe and sound. He feels wrapped in a comfortable warmth and all the tension that was pent up inside of him leaves. </p><p>He’s close to falling asleep again. His arms unwillingly loosen around Sapnap, so he gives in and asks if they can all sleep in the bed and cuddle some more. They do.</p><p>When they wake up entangled and too warm, they don’t move at first. Only when Patches demands food, Dream pulls back from their embrace and gets up to feed his cat. George and Sapnap also get up, only a tad slower. </p><p>They throw on some comfy sweaters and pick up one for Dream and slowly trot into the kitchen. George gets some eggs and bacon started while Sapnap whips up some pancake batter. </p><p>The atmosphere is soft and safe. The routine of making eggs gives George time to wake up properly and think about what to say.</p><p>When he has the words set out in his head, he asks for their attention. He wants to not say the L-word anymore. At least not until he can say it back. He offers a hug in exchange.</p><p>They accept the trade.</p><p> </p><p>A month passes by very quickly when you feel safe and at home. A month passing means that they have to go back. George doesn’t want to go back. He wants to stay. But he can’t.</p><p>A few weeks after George has gone back to England, Dream proposes as a joke. They were talking about visas and how long it would take George to get one. Marriage is faster. George says no and takes Dream’s hug privileges for two weeks. Dream tries to argue that they only hug in Minecraft and pixels touching pixels shouldn’t count, but George doesn’t give in. Dream respects that boundary. It makes George incredibly happy. He tells his therapist about it and she’s very happy for him. </p><p>Dream and Sapnap were the ones who convinced him to actually see a professional about his issues and it definitely helps. More than he expected it to. </p><p>They join in once or twice on his video sessions and it gives him some form of comfort to know that they have seen that he’s getting better.</p><p>Half a year after he started therapy, he tells the two that he loves them. It’s rather dumb, they’re recording a manhunt and shortly before they get to him, shortly before they beat him, he tells them. They both stop moving, which gives George just enough time to slip through the portal and break the first two crystals. Then they scream into his ears that they love him too. He feels giddy about it. </p><p>They still kill him in the end before he can slay the ender dragon, but it’s fine. His friends love him. And love isn’t so bad. He loves them back. Loving them feels safe. It feels secure. It feels comfortable and warm and good.</p><p>Loving them feels like home.</p>
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